Bush details threat integration

Related Links

President Bush described his plans for an integrated center for intelligence analysts to share terrorism-related information.

The Terrorist Threat Integration Center would bring analysts together in one facility to increase information sharing and analysis.

"We're going to use the best information technologies to make sure information flows from this data bank of information to law enforcement officials," Bush said today in a speech at FBI headquarters.

TTIC is expected to begin work May 1 at an interim location at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia. About 60 government employees will staff the center in its initial phase, and eventually 150 to 300 will staff a new facility separate from CIA and FBI headquarters, according to the White House.

TTIC, which Bush announced last month in his State of the Union address, will conduct threat analysis and assessment, and maintain an up-to-date database of known and suspected terrorists, according to a White House announcement. Further, the center will "minimize any seams between analysis of terrorism and intelligence collected overseas and inside the United States," White House officials said.

"The goal is to develop a comprehensive picture of terrorist activities," Bush said.

The center will report to CIA Director George Tenet, but the FBI and CIA components will continue to report to their respective authorities. Bringing the FBI and CIA together under one roof will enhance information sharing and maximize counterterrorism resources, a White House said. The Homeland Security Department also will be a full partner in the center and receive and analyze terrorist information.

"Our agencies must coexist as they never have before," Bush said, adding that the FBI has transformed itself since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "This agency now understands we're at war, and the first responsibility of [the FBI] is to prevent an enemy from hitting us and hurting us."